Paul Heaton and Jacqui Abbott on their way back to Ballybofey

Pop duo Paul Heaton and Jacqui Abbott have announced a series of Irish tour dates to take place in February 2023 and the Balor Arts Centre in Ballybofey is on the list.

Tickets will be available at 10am this Friday, October 7 from Ticketmaster.

They were due to play a sold-out gig in the Balor in April 2020 but the gig was cancelled due to Covid 19.

Paul and Jacqui’s new album ‘N.K-Pop’is also released on October 7. They have already made two songs available from the album – the poignant ballad ‘Still’, which was described as ‘ beautifully heartbreaking’ by Dawn French, and the gospel pop song ‘Too Much For One (Not Enough For Two). Paul and Jacqui’s previous album ‘Manchester Calling’ went straight to No 1 on its release in March ’20.

Heaton’s songwriting genius was recognised at the prestigious Ivor Awards 2022 where noted author/radio DJ Stuart Maconie presented him with a long overdue gong for ‘Outstanding Song Collection’.

Heaton is one of the UK’s most successful songwriters with some 15 million album sales under his belt. He first came to prominence in the early 80s as front man of The Housemartins (the same group that gave us Norman ‘Fatboy Slim’ Cook).

The Housemartins released two albums ‘London 0 Hull 4’ (’86) and ‘The People Who Grinned Themselves To Death’ (’87). In ’88 Heaton formed The Beautiful South, who released 10 hugely successful albums - ‘Welcome To The Beautiful South’ (’89), Choke (’90), ‘0898 Beautiful South’ (’92), ‘Miaow’ (’94), ‘Blue Is The Colour’ (’96), ‘Quench’ (’98), ‘Painting It Red’ (2000), ‘Gaze’ (’03), ‘Golddiggas, Headnodders & Pholk Songs’ (’04) and ‘Superbi’ (’06).

In 2001 Heaton took a break from The Beautiful South and released his first solo album ‘Fat Chance’. The Beautiful South called it a day in 2007 citing ‘musical similarities’.

Jacqui was lead vocalist in The Beautiful South from ’94 to 2000 and she sang many of their signature hits including ‘Rotterdam’, ‘Perfect 10’, ‘Don’t Marry Her’ and ‘Dream A Little Dream’.

Paul went on to release two further solo albums: ‘The Cross-Eyed Rambler’ (’08) and ‘Acid Country’ (’10).

In 2011 Heaton wrote a musical called ‘The 8th’ based on the Seven Deadly Sins and asked Jacqui to sing one of the parts. They have since released four acclaimed albums as a duo: ‘What Have We Become’ (’14), ‘Wisdom, Laughter and Lines’ (’15), ‘Crooked Calypso’ (’17) and ‘Manchester Calling’ (’20).

In 2019 Paul released a career spanning compilation of his biggest hits entitled ‘The Last King Of Pop’.

The Bonner's Corner Bar venue in Ballybofey where Paul (inset) paid for pints to mark his 60th birthday

2022 saw Heaton reach a significant birthday, which he celebrated in typically idiosyncratic style by putting £1,000 behind the bar of 60 carefully chosen pubs across the UK and Ireland, including Bonner's Corner Bar in Ballybofey so that fans could have a drink on him.

Fans will be hoping nothing gets in the way of this gig!